Ica To Screen ‘Blistering & Timely’ Study Of Immigration Tensions

With the dialogue around immigration reaching boiling point worldwide, notions of who belongs where have rarely been so fraught. In this landscape, Chantal Akerman's De l'autre côté (aka From the Other Side) is more relevant than ever. Shot in 2002, the documentary came about after Akerman read a news story about the border of Arizona and Mexico. Apparently some American ranchers had taken to heading out at night armed with with magnum shotguns, and aided by night-vision goggles, using both to hunt illegal immigrants to the death. They claimed that the Mexicans were bringing in dirt. This word “dirt” struck Akerman, reminding her of the anti-Semitic vocabulary of the Nazis. She found unguarded bloodlust of the ranchers astonishing.

“Tomorrow or after tomorrow or after one year, you will remember these shots." she says of her documentary. "Usually you forget. But you won’t forget my shots because I insist, I insist right up to the point where it’s almost unbearable.”

De l'autre côté is to be screened at the ICA on Thursday 18th June at 7.00pm, with the screening being promoted by the A Nos Amours collective, a group dedicated to showing the over-looked, the under-exposed and the potent. Tickets start at £7 and are available with more info on the A Nos Amours website